UN SDG
Call for SR&TD Project Grants - 2017
€214.920,97
A nanotechnological approach for topical administration of insulin for wound healing
Catarina Baptista Fialho Rosado
REQUIMTE - Rede de Química e Tecnologia - Associação
Clinical Medicine

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The main aim of this project is to develop a nanotechnological-based product for insulin delivery, for improvement of wound healing and treatment of wound-related problems, improving the patients quality of life. The product is focused in chronic wound healing, since they present the most long-lasting and severe profiles, but it also bears great potential for enhancing the treatment of acute wounds and burns, and for other applications in regenerative medicine. The product consists in a multifunctional nanoparticle-hydrogel hybrid system for topical administration of insulin, which acts as a growth factor enhancing wound healing. Thus, insulin will be encapsulated into PLGA nanoparticles coated with chitosan, and embedded into a collagen/hyaluronic acid hydrogel. The delivery of insulin and wound healing will benefit from the synergic properties of each polymer. Insulin is encapsulated into nanoparticles under a Design of Experiment (DoE) approach, obtaining the highest loading capacity and the best insulin stabilization. Then, the nanoparticle-hydrogel hybrid system will be obtained by production optimization using Quality by Design (QbD) principles. The insulin-polymer and polymer-polymer interactions within the nanoparticle-hydrogel delivery system will be scrutinized by biophysical methods, to assess the multifunctionality and stabilizing effect of the system and more importantly its consequences to the stability and bioactivity of insulin. The administration of the delivery system onto the wound bed will be mimicked in vitro using proteases, to evaluate the behaviour of the nanocarrier and the stability and bioactivity of insulin. The long-term stability of the formulation is also evaluated. The performance of the hybrid system is confirmed by both in vitro and in vivo, cytotoxicity and bioactivity studies, performed using a cell line and animal model, respectively. Finally, the skin compatibility and wound healing properties of the product in human volunteers are evaluated to ensure both its safety and therapeutic effect. The implementation of the project relies in the collaboration of 2 of the national top institutions involved in teaching and research in the Pharmaceutical Sciences field. The scientific, technical and human requirements of the project are guaranteed, by the synergic combination of the assets of each institution. Namely, one is specialized in formulation optimization, skin compatibility studies and clinical trials, and the other in methods of characterization of structural stability and bioactivity of therapeutic proteins as well as in the in vitro and in vivo assessment of the bioactivity and cytotoxicity of the product. It is foreseen that the product developed under the guidelines of this project will be a major contribution for chronic wound healing, and a decisively improvement in the quality of life of skin wounded patients.
SkinWoundInsulinHealing